Dynamics of parasite clearance in cutaneous leishmaniasis patients treated with miltefosine.

Parasite loads were quantified in repeated skin biopsies from lesions of 2 patients with Old-World cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania major and L. infantum during and after treatment with miltefosine. Miltefosine induced a rapid therapeutic effect on both infections with an initial de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Thomas P C Dorlo, Pieter P A M van Thiel, Gerard J Schoone, Ymkje Stienstra, Michèle van Vugt, Jos H Beijnen, Peter J de Vries
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001436
https://doaj.org/article/1e84a8fb76c140d5a756cb98d074820f
Description
Summary:Parasite loads were quantified in repeated skin biopsies from lesions of 2 patients with Old-World cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania major and L. infantum during and after treatment with miltefosine. Miltefosine induced a rapid therapeutic effect on both infections with an initial decline of parasites of ∼1 log/week for the L. major infection. These observations illustrate the usability of quantifying parasite loads in skin lesions as a pharmacodynamic measure and quantitative descriptor of drug effect for CL supporting clinical assessment.